The Trail Blazers have suddenly gotten better, winning three games in a row, all over playoff teams (feel free to add an asterisk for the two in the Eastern Conference).

And while some worry-stricken fans were thinking Portland would have been passed by Golden State by now, the Blazers (48-27) have solidified their hold on the No. 5 spot in the Western Conference, with a two-game lead over the No. 6 Warriors.

Which leads to this question: Why not make a run at No. 4 Houston (49-23), which has a 2½-game lead on the Blazers? Let’s ask the team’s heart-and-soul guy, Wesley Matthews.

“I just want to make the playoffs right now,” Matthews said after the Blazers practiced Monday to get ready for their Tuesday game against the Lakers in Los Angeles. “We got a game against the Lakers coming up, who beat us here and we gotta get them back. All this seeding stuff, we’ll see where the chips fall after seven games.”

Blazers coach Terry Stotts has steadfastly maintained an in-the-moment, one-game-at-a-time approach all season. When the Blazers were winning 11 in a row, when they had the best record in the NBA, and when they were slipping a bit after the All-Star break, Stotts has kept this approach.

Which is not to say he hasn’t talked about the standings with his team. After the Blazers lost at Orlando last week for a third straight defeat, and panic was setting in about just making the playoffs among some fans and pundits, Stotts took the occasion to remind his team what was going on beneath it in the standings. Golden State, Memphis, Phoenix and Dallas all were on hot streaks and making big runs at grabbing a playoff spot in the super-competitive West.

“For the first time after the Orlando game, I think we looked behind us and realized that we gotta straighten things out,” Stotts said.

The Blazers haven’t lost since, but of course, the looking behind approach was greatly helped by LaMarcus Aldridge returning from a seven-game absence to ignite the three-game win streak.

“No. 12 was hurt, that’s what was wrong,” Matthews said. “That’s what makes us an elite team in this league is that guy right there. You see the difference.”

Chasing the No. 4 seed isn’t just manufactured motivation since getting into the upper-half of the conference would net homecourt advantage in the first round, nothing to sneeze at for a team that is 27-9 at the Moda Center. But is it doable?

The Blazers have seven games remaining, and five are at home. They’ve also completed all their back-to-backs for the season. Houston, on the other hand, still has 10 games left, including two back-to-backs.

But the Rockets have a huge advantage in that they’ve won three of their four games against Portland this season, meaning they own the tiebreaker. Essentially, Portland has to finish with one more win than the Rockets, who themselves are only two games behind the No. 3 Los Angeles Clippers (52-22).

That’s a lot of digest, which might explain why Stotts is sticking to his season-long credo.

“I think we’re better served if we really just concentrate on what we need to do, and we’re a long way from chasing Houston,” he said. “We accumulate wins, and we’ll see where things shake out.”